Business application software usage has caused a proliferation of data in the enterprise. The business user usually creates the data through a user interface or the software itself generates the data or other software loads the data from other systems. The data is contained in some type of data store such as a relational database. There is generally a complex data model that represents the structure of the stored data and it takes a skilled information technology person to extract the data for information access and data sharing. The data is used to track the operations of the business and monitor the information that drives the business as well as assist in making business decisions. The interface used to extract the information can take many forms but is often personal computer based software, such as a query tool or a report-writing tool, that can connect to a relational database or object model. It is generally a very time consuming, manual process to learn the data structures, hone the required skills and write the queries, reports or routines to extract the data and make it meaningful to a business user.
While traditional business intelligence solutions continue to introduce more and more ways to make your reports look nice, they still do not address the most difficult aspect of reporting: accessing the information you need in a timely and flexible manner and presenting that information in business terms that are understood by business people.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method for the generation of data access applications that overcome the limitations of the conventional system and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.